


If You Give a Tim A Wifi-Connection

by SleepwalkingTimDrake



Series: Batfam Bingo 2019 (SleepwalkingTimDrake card) [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Red Robin (Comics), Robin (Comics)
Genre: Characters Writing Fanfiction, Coming of Age, Crushes, Fanfiction, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, One-Sided Tim Drake/Jason Todd - Freeform, Pining, just a little
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 13:32:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18692491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepwalkingTimDrake/pseuds/SleepwalkingTimDrake
Summary: He's going to find fanfiction.(Tim's life as it's shaped by reviews, editing drabbles, getting to the end of those 100k slow burn fics)





	1. Nine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bonebreakjack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bonebreakjack/gifts).



> Thanks to Jack and Whistle_Mist helping me with this fic.
> 
> And this will be taking my Batfam Bingo's Identity Porn slot!

When nine-year-old Tim Drake first discovered fanfiction on his search for more information on Robin, his world grew three sizes.

 

People were writing about Batman! Batman! In more than just the stuffy articles from the New Yorker and Gotham Gazette that his parents bought but never read and the puff pieces he'd stolen out of Mrs. Mac’s secret stash of gossip magazines (His mother said they wrote Mrs. Mac’s last brain cells right out of her head).

 

They were writing stories.

 

Tim's hands tremble with something, he wasn't sure it it could be called excitement, as he clicks through the results.

 

One, in particular, pops out at him.

 

 

Here comes a Hero **>** by  xxxrobin321batmanfanxxx   _reviews_

Self Insert!hero Saves Batman and Robin from Clayface

NO FLAMES. read/review, love you all!

Rated: T - English - Adventure/Friendship - Chapters: 8 - Words: 12,199 - Reviews: 10 - Updated: Aug 19, 2XXX - Published: Aug 4, 2XXX

 

 

He's clicking on it before he could even think to ask.

 

...

A/N

Batman: Finish your homework! (-_-)

Author-chan: noooooooo XD

Robin:I’ll SAVE YOU :333333333

…

 

It was life changing.


	2. Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just posting another since they're so short

By the time Tim had turned ten the time he wasn't spending on school or his "birdwatching" hobbies had slowly become devoured by the small community of Batman and Robin Fiction Writers. It felt like the world was there with him, curious about Batman, enthralled by Robin, and scared and in awe of the villains.

 

At times he almost forgot that Two Face or Riddler or Harley Quinn were scary. The writers made them seem funny and un-threatening in a way they never were when Tim saw them on the streets. In the Stories Batman always won, and the villains seemed to know that. In his adventures following the dynamic duo?

  
  


Not so much.

  
  


Batman didn't lose... But Tim had seen him bleed, He'd seen Catwoman catch him off guard with her claws, he'd seen him take hits that made Tim's own head spin from Killer Croc.

 

In real life, the Villains wanted to win just as much as everyone else wanted them to lose.

 

But Batman always got up, won, and sent the criminals of the day back to the GCPD in zip ties.

 

Batman might not always get out without a few scratches, but he did always win.

 

He made a quick search through his subscriptions for a new chapter. 

 

Tag in Gotham **> **by  Imadeyoureadthis5465 _reviews_

It was a quiet night in gotham when harley and batman were playing tag for keeps R&R!

RATED T FOR HARLEY’S DIRTY MOUTH XD

Rated: T - English - Humor/Friendship - Chapters: 2 - Words: 2,400 - Reviews: 3 - Updated: 14m ago  - Published: Sep 12, 2XXX - Harley Q., Batman.

 

Just like in Tim’s stories… real life on the other hand, just had a little less glory.


	3. Ten and a Half

Tim is ten and a half, and he’s pretty certain he just made a terrible decision. And he’s pressing post before he can convince himself to stop.  
  
Silent protectors in the night **>** Birdwatcher442 _reviews_  
When most all of gotham goes to sleep, who watches out for everyone in the lonely streets?  
First fic, not good at summaries, fic is betteer I promise  
Rated: G - English - Hurt/Comfort - Chapters: 1 - Words: 4,006 -  Published: 1m ago  
  
He stares at his mom’s computer screen, refreshing the page every few minutes. Trying to rationalize his decision.  
  
The fics he’d been reading lately had been bugging him. He’d finished reading the Robin/Batgirl 60 chapter long-fic he’d committed too, 3 of his subscribed fanfics were now completed, and two were on hiatus (Tim had categorized them as unlikely to return. Judging by their last author notes) and nothing new was catching his eye.  
  
  And He hadn’t been able to put his finger on that weird feeling till last night, while he was “birdwatching.”  
It was the patrols.  
  
Batman never patrolled in the fanfics he read. Or if he did people seemed really uneducated about just how they worked. (On second thought. Perhaps it was better most people didn’t understand that part of the Batman’s job as it would mean Tim wasn’t the only one on nightly trips.)  
  
But they continued to bug him. As did Batman’s treatment of criminals and thugs in these fics. They weren’t really given names if they weren’t named already and were mostly used as cannon fodder for the more famous of Batman’s Rogue Gallery (not that they aren’t in real life), but Tim was starting to feel ill over reading about another nameless thug Batman karate chopped then threw off a roof. (The, do not kill code didn’t always translate to fics either). His brain kept imagining Lumpy Larry, the sometimes homeless drunk sometimes Two-Face henchman that Bruce was currently trying to place in a better halfway house, in the nameless thugs place instead. Or Danny Junior, the occasional WonderLand Gang henchman who’d feed all the cats on the corner of fifth and Hawkins in Bowery. Batman had been trying to get him to go for an interview at Wayne industry. He kept dropping WE Business cards and loudly mentioning a lack of employees applying for the needed jobs. Tim didn’t think he was as subtle as he thinks himself.  
  
The point was though.  
  
Bruce cared.  
  
And so did Batman.  
  
And Tim, Tim could show people that. Well, at least the Batman half off it.  
  
He’d been careful, he was sure of it. He couldn’t risk the consequence of not bring. What that could bring on him. The questions that might cause, the interest that might stir up.  
  
Did Batman read his own fanfics? Would he be on the look-out for authors- kids who knew too much? Did he make house visits if he found someone or just leave a scathing review with nothing but “I know where you live” to end it? Did Batman write flames?  
  
No, Tim was pretty confident he was more of a private message via window chat kinda guy.  
  
Tim had managed to witness such chats on several occasions.  
Tim was safe though. The patrols his written Batman took were all one’s Tim had made up, and he’d done his best to make sure none of the characters he helped out were actually similar to the real small-time criminals he helped out on the daily.  
  
Although, Tim had made sure to name a character Bumpy Ben though. For plot reasons of course.  
  
Poor Bumpy Ben had bad acne like Mrs. Mac’s husband in their marriage photos she’s shown Tim last week.  
  
Batman helps him get to CHA.  
  
Chocolate-holics Anonymous.

  
  
  
Yes  
  
Tim paused for breath as his first review showed up, an hour into continually refreshing the page. The little number one next to the newly added _Reviews_ section made his heart beat like nothing else.  
  
He would be perfectly safe.


	4. Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to my Beta Whistle_Mist  
> (and for TheBlackRoseAki for offering but if I'm not getting out of this deal neither are you :) )

Tim had spent most of the first few months as eleven leaving anonymous flames on authors that wrote fics to bash the new Robin, who had become noticed in recent months. 

 

Jason had actually debuted as Robin two weeks before his birthday, and Tim couldn’t think of a better present if the Boy Wonder and Batman themselves congratulated Tim on his magnificent discovery of their identities, all while John Williams composed a score specifically for that moment on the fly.

 

Yeah, it would have to be pretty awesome to top the new Robin Debuting his birthday Month.

 

The Bashing-Fics though? The Bashing-Fics he could do without.

 

NIGHTCORE - Superhero FIX-IT **> **by _777Nightwingforever777’s_ _reviews_

Nightwing has had enough of the hate and the lying. He’d coming back a changed man, There’s more to him then his good looks and charm and the world is about to see the blue behind the red, green, and gold// WE’RE SAVING GOTHAM BY BRING BACK THE TRUE WONDER BOY! smart!powerful!GRAY!Nightwing BadRobin-Bashing don’t like don’t read! Let’s unite gothammites!

Rated: M - English - Horror - Chapters: 14 - Words: 30,244 - Reviews: 10 - Updated: Nov 10, 2XXX - Published: Sept 4, 2XXX

  
  


Tim reading fanfiction at 11 consisted mostly of him leading a one-boy crusade against the hate this new Robin got.

 

Tim couldn’t believe his community. He was, as his Mother put it when she fired someone,  _ filled with disdain for their existence.  _

 

And really, what did they have to get mad about. Most FF.net denizens didn’t notice the change until months in.

 

“Unignorable,” Tim’s very sore behind. He’d managed to hit all the rungs when he’d slipped and fell down a fire-escape when Jason zoomed passed his stakeout point last night with his grappling hook.

 

Then a again most of Tim’s favorite and even least favorite fanfictions writers hadn’t had front row seats or at least Gallery seats to Jason’s opening night performance.

 

Performance might be the wrong word. Event?

 

Well, whether they did or they didn’t, Tim was very disappointed.

 

It wasn’t fair!

 

Jason really wanted this! You could see it on his face in the newly developed photographs Tim had added to the hoard under his bed. Every line, every flight caught mid-leap, Jason’s first takedown of a purse thief, every punch and nudge, it was all just-

 

Magic.

 

Jason was magic! How could people not see? Bruce had been so lonely after Dick left. He’d even talked to Tim at a Gala he’d attended with Mother’s friends. Tim wasn’t sure if Bruce had ever talked to him before. He’d known Tim’s name though, so, perhaps they’d been introduced and he hadn’t remembered it?  Tim remembers most things though, especially Bruce Wayne/Batman things.

 

It was okay though. Tim was kinda Lonely too.

 

Jason made him happy again, and Tim didn’t think anyone could fault him for that.

 

As Tim hit Post-as-Anon for the 5th time today the fault struck him.

 

Maybe he needed to do more for Jason then just angerly unfavorite authors he’d liked for years for the moral crime of writing him out of Batman’s story by killing him via plot device. Maybe, Maybe he could make people like Jason.

 

So, what if you couldn’t make a horse drink, Tim had magic writing fingers. He could make Jason Cool to them.

 

They’d have to like him then.

 

They’d have to.

 

Tim would make them.

 

Leaving the flame he’d just finished to sit in _ 777Nightwingforever777’s _ inbox Tim started writing a new fic in Copy-N-Paste (it wouldn’t do to leave evidence in Word Docs of his sin) and stepped into the world of Batman and Robin he could create.

 

It wouldn’t do to make anyone but Jason the hero of this story but… He had to call Jason Robin for obvious reasonings, but he didn’t want Jason to call himself Robin either.

 

Tim ground his teeth. He never had had any problems referring to Bruce or Dick and Batman and Robin in his stories. What made this any different? Jason was Robin. He deserved to be called Robin just as much as Dick had. But… Tim couldn’t type it.

 

He had to make Jason cool! He had to make people believe he was Robin! And here he was not even to type out the word.

 

Tim stabbed at the R key in retaliation. Watching with a little satisfaction as his first paragraph slide into a line of **_rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr_**.

 

He was a hypocrite he couldn’t even have Jason call himself Robin.

 

Tim smacked his head against his Mother’s second favorite oak typing desk hard enough that the piece of the Berlin wall she’d brought back and then banished to the second favorite office rolled around on its stand.

 

The resounding thunks made him feel a little better.

 

“Hypocrite.” Thunk. “Hypocrite.” Thunk. “Hypocrite.” Thunk.

 

Some champion he was.

 

He wasn’t letting Jason call himself Robin either, but he was, he is Robin. He is to Tim. He tried typing it again.

 

_ The night air in Gotham was brutally cold. Across the city’s skyline danger and mystery lurked behind every turn and ally way. The world is a frightening place and in gotham frights ran the town. And in this playground of crime and suspense a light brightened the horizon. _

 

_ Robin. _

 

There, he can still do it. He just can’t do it from Jason’s POV. Tim considered, well it’s not too bad. It’s not like you can give yourself a nickname, someone else has to call you by it first for it to mean anything. To make it cool. Bruce and Dick might have given Jason Robin. Yet someone still needed to call by Robin to make it cool.

  
  


And that might as well be Tim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this installment. It came out a little later then I'd hoped but hopefully I'll find a day that works for posting these. Pls tell me if you enjoyed it! 
> 
> Also Reah22, if you see this, thank you so much I really needed a reminder/confidence boost to remember to post the next chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me if you enjoyed it. The next drabble-plus will be up soon, in a day or so, and each will be about a different stage in his life.
> 
> Tell me what you think!


End file.
